Starting over after fire: 'Lucky' to escape blaze

“It all began when I was a child and was given my first coloring book and box of crayons. The colors. Oh, the colors.”

Shankleton is referring to the love of art, especially painting, which has sustained her throughout her life.

She has painted since she was 17, developing enough expertise to place her work in exhibitions and to teach painting to others.

A victim of the July 22 Alpine Haus Apartments fire, Shankleton lost all of her art supplies and 20 finished oil paintings, along with her furnishings and personal property.

White-haired, 71, suffering from osteoporosis of the spine and back, Shankleton’s mind and wit are sharp. Her tone is passionate, her expression intent when she speaks of her art.

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“I had just completed two paintings, variations on the same rose, and they were drying on the dining room table,” Shankleton said. “Later, Deb Smith, the apartment manager, told me they had melted right into the surface.”

Despite her losses, Shankleton feels grateful and lucky to have gotten out of the building unharmed.

“I had just taken off my shoes and sat down to relax,” she said. “Then, I heard this terribly loud ‘boom, boom, boom,’ somebody pounding on my door. A fireman shouted ‘the building’s on fire; get out now.’ I didn’t even put on my shoes. I just grabbed my dog, Maggie, and got out. I would have stayed there with her, if I couldn’t have gotten her out. Maggie means the world to me.”

A swift retreat from the flames was not easy for Shankleton. She uses a cane or walker to get around, but neither was handy when she fled the fire. She had just obtained an electric wheelchair, knowing her worsening condition would soon require it. The chair was damaged in the fire, and she has not yet found out if it is repairable.

“The building went up in flames so fast; the hall was filled with smoke. People 2 feet in front of me were mere shadows. But it all went smoothly; we all stayed calm. We had had many, many, many fire drills and inspections. You know how people are — we used to get quite annoyed at how often they were held — but they all paid off in the end.”

Shankleton, drenched by a downpour of rain, was first taken to the Tendercare nursing home and then transported by county bus to the Evangelical Free Church where cots and blankets were set up. A daughter and son-in-law who live in Gaylord picked her up that night and took her home, where she resided until she was relocated in an apartment at Park Meadows.

“I went to the Community Shower,” Shankleton said. “What a fantastic — oh, my goodness — the turnout of people who donated. I found everything I needed. Except for art supplies.”

Like most of the other residents who were scattered among a number of places until Alpine Haus could be rebuilt, she felt lonely and isolated from people who had come to seem like “family.”

The loss of her art supplies was even more devastating.

A member of the Herald Times newsroom heard of her plight and passed the word on. Soon the Gaylord Area Council of the Arts became involved, and the council and several artist members assembled an easel, oil paints, watercolors, pastels, brushes, canvases and related supplies — enough to get her started. Several other artists have committed to donating more.

“You know,” Shankleton said, surveying the supplies, “when I was 11 years old I went on a trip to a museum. When I got home I told my mother I was going to be an artist when I grew up. In those days, women only became things like teachers or nurses, so my mother ruffled my hair and said, ‘No you won’t, Sis; you’ll change your mind.” Shankleton grinned.

“This is like Christmas for me,” she added. “How will I ever be able to find the words to thank everyone for this gift?”